Recipe: Aunt Jane's Maple Fudge

Ingredients:

4 cups packed light brown sugar

2 cups table cream (18%)

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter + butter to lightly grease glass dish

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Tools:

Timer or watch

Two wooden spoons

Large metal spoon

8” heavy bottom pot with sides that are at least 5” high

Candy thermometer

9x12 glass cake dish (or other similar pan lined it with aluminum foil overlapping the sides in order to help to lift out the fudge. Lightly butter the foil.)

Large plastic baggie

Paring knife

Coffee mug

Paper towel

An electric hand mixer (optional)

A kitchen helper for stirring and general moral support.

Cooking Time:

1 hour from start to finish.

Set Up:

Station 1:  cooking area; pot/sugar/cream/corn syrup/butter/salt/wooden spoon/thermometer

Station 2:  sink area; plug for sink ready to fill with cold water/timer set for 15 minute countdown

Station 3:  mixing area; must be close to final area with dish to place fudge in/ vanilla/clean wooden spoon/ electric hand mixer (optional but muscle saving)

Station 4:  placing area; buttered glass dish/large metal spoon/large baggie to cover hand/sharp paring knife/coffee cup for future hot water/paper towel

Station 5:  wine station (this is optional, but you will want to celebrate if you make it to a successful end - pregnant ladies get grapefruit juice instead)

Instructions:

At Station 1, place brown sugar and cream in pot and set burner to med-high. Stir the mixture using the wooden spoon until boiling (takes about 9 minutes).

Once boiling, add the salt, butter and corn syrup and stir constantly and slowly while keeping an eye on the mixture.  It will rise to the top of the pot once, then will reduce back down to its original height as it continues to boil. If you think it is going to boil over remove from heat and it will settle down then immediately, then return to burner.

Clean the side of the pot with your spoon periodically to help keep any crystallization chunks from forming.

When the mixture has settled down install your candy thermometer.  Be very careful as the mixture is hot. You can do this at the beginning but we like to wait until the mixture has risen then settled down.

You can now do random stirring to ensure there is no sticking on the bottom and the mixture is getting even heat from the burner. You are taking the mixture to soft ball stage (240 degrees). Try to only make fudge on clear days as the low pressure of rain days may affect the results. This stage (once the mixture starts to boil) can take 12-15 minutes.

When the temperature reads 220 degrees on the candy thermometer, move to Station 2 and prepare your sink or a large bowl with some cold water in it as you will need to place your pot in the water to cool immediately once the temperature of 240 degrees is reached.  We use the sink and add some ice cubes to water to cool the fudge faster. You want just enough water that when the pot is placed it comes up the sides equal to level of the fudge mixture, about 2".

When the temperature reads 240 degrees, immediately place the pot slowly into the water and remove the thermometer. Try to keep the pot level so the mixture is not all gathered to one side as the mixture will not cool at an even rate, you may need a small dishrag to place under one corner to help keep it level in the water.  Leave your wooden spoon in the center of the fudge mixture.

Ensure timer is set  for the 15 minute countdown. Start the timer.

At the 8 minute mark of the countdown timer, stir the fudge while keeping the pot in the water. Take your wooden spoon that is still in the mixture and dig into the sides of the pot and pull that mixture into the center of the pot. You will notice how the sides have commenced cooling and is becoming harder or more sticky than the interior mixture of the pot. Three or four mixes is all you need as long as you have dug into all the sides of the pot.  You are just trying to encourage even cooling of the mixture. 

Once done, scrape down your wooden spoon of any mixture and remove it from the pot. If you don't have a second wooden spoon clean this one for later use. You cannot insert a spoon with fudge crystallization on it into the mixture as it will encourage the whole fudge mixture to form crystals rather than becoming smooth. 

If you have an instant read thermometer, at the 14 minute mark you can check the temperature of the fudge mixture at the outside corners where the mixture will be the coolest, the temperature should be close to 120 degrees. This is not critical it just means the higher the temperature the more beating of mixture will need to take place, the lower the temperature the more chance you will end up with a pot of fudge, rather than a dish of fudge as the setting process may take place faster than you can react.

At the 15 minute mark of cooling, remove the pot of fudge from the water and place on the counter area at Station 3 where you are going to mix the fudge. This area should be close to where your dish to place the fudge into is located. You may want to place a cutting board under the pot as it can still be somewhat warm.

Add the vanilla.

Now you can start the beating with an electric hand mixer (this is hard on the mixer, use only for 2-4 minutes max) or simply start with your own muscles and wooden spoon. The mixing time will vary, but on average  2-10 minutes depending on the initial temperature of the fudge mixture. It is important to get into the sides of the pot and pull into the center, scrape the bottom and try to keep sides clean as you go.  This is the most important step - you must watch the colour of the fudge carefully.  You are looking for the sheen of the fudge to change from shiny to dull.

As the fudge cools it will crackle and here is the most important step to master - watch the colour of the fudge and beat until the sheen changes from shiny to dull.  It  will start out  very shiny and when it is ready to spoon into your dish the appearance (finish) will go to a dull colour. You will see streaks of dullness appear  as you beat closer to the end (this is a warning sign) but the fudge is not ready until complete mixture  dullness appears.  You only have seconds at this point to spoon the fudge mixture into the dish - it sets very quickly.

Once you reach the dull sheen, quickly carry the pot over to the placing dish at Station 4 and have your helper take hold of the pot and hold over top of the dish while you spoon the mixture (as much as you can with the wooden spoon) into the dish. Try to keep in the fudge in one large ball at the beginning when you dump into the dish, as the heat will stay in the fudge longer and allow it to be more easily spread.

Once 80% of mixture is place in dish, you can take hold of the pot and your helper will place the baggie over their hand (the hand is easier than a spoon and if you place a thin layer of butter over the palm side of the baggie that is in contact with the fudge if helps the fudge not to stick to the baggie) and push down and smooth out the mixture to the thickness you want or size of your dish. 

Meanwhile, you take the pot and grab the large steel spoon and scrape the pot and place the remaining mixture (if possible) into the dish, your helper can grab the fudge off the spoon with their hand covered with the baggie, working very quickly. That is it!!!

Place the dish full of fudge on a wire rack to encourage even cooling. Sometimes some oil from the butter that you used on the baggie or dish will rise to the surface of the fudge; you can dab this off with a paper towel.

Once you have boiled enough water to fill a cup you can start cutting the fudge. Fill the coffee cup with  enough boiling water that will cover the blade of your paring knife. Take the paring knife and dip into the hot water for 5 seconds, remove and wipe dry with paper towel and make full length cuts in the fudge. 

The best piece sizing is 1/2 inch cubes so gauge the lines you will need to cut both horizontal and vertical in order to get this size. After each full length cut, place the knife back into the hot water, wipe dry with paper towel and make next cut. You are now done.

Move on to Station 5 if you wish.

Helpful Hint:

Like many recipes, it takes practice so don’t get discouraged - even the batches that don’t turn out 100% will still taste good. We've eaten many "failed" batches and there are never any complaints!

Source:

From Dad's Test Kitchen, November 1, 2009 updated December 12, 2012.  Original recipe from Aunt Jane.